As we reported yesterday, this year's Bike Kill was more demure than previous years, due to Saturday's wet and windy weather. But a respectable number of hardcore bike killers still surfaced behind the Home Depot in Bed-Stuy for the annual celebration of gritty DIY bike culture. Here are more photos from the eminently talented chronicler of New York's underground, photographer Tod Seelie.
More Killer Photos From Bike Kill 2011!
Video: Bicycle-Powered Ferris Wheel!
Bicycles: Is there anything they can't do? Down in New York's sixth borough, the crew behind the Miss Rockaway Armada have just finished work on a powered Ferris Wheel. A smaller version of this ride was on the original voyage of the Miss Rockaway Armada, but for their next adventure on the Schuylkill River they're going all in with this bad boy, built by San Francisco's Paul Da Plumber. Check it out:
A Photo Tour of Jeff Stark's Latest Crazy Site-Specific Show
We'll take any excuse to publish more of Tod Seelie's bewitching photographs, but this time his subject matter is also relevant to your weekend plans. Jeff Stark, the DIY director, playwright, and publisher of the essential events newsletter Nonsense NYC, is staging his latest site-specific performance piece, Sweet Cheat, at an undisclosed upstate location this weekend. It is undisclosed because it is illegal.
Swoon's Punk Beasts and Swimming Cities
Following her trip on the Hudson, Swoon got a bit more adventurous and gathered up more than 30 other artists to help her take her Swimming Cities to the Adriatic Sea. Three handcrafted vessels navigated the waters, and ended up crashing the Venice Biennale in Italy. Luckily Tod Seelie was on hand to capture it all, and now his photographs will be on exhibit, starting tonight, at the Anonymous Gallery.
Visiting Bannerman's Island
What's more intriguing than an abandoned island with a rotting castle sitting just north of New York City? Bannerman's Island sits in the Hudson, just about 50 miles north of here, and American Heritage explains "this island fortress was once the private arsenal of the world's largest arms dealer," Frank "Francis" Bannerman.
Judge Says Oh Hell No to Jell-O Lawsuit
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former NYU student against the university after he broke his hip in a Jell-O wrestling tussle gone horribly wrong. As a junior in 2004, Avram Wisnia was one of the organizers of what was supposed to be a totally awesome “Beach Bash” event, held in an NYU dormitory courtyard with water guns, water balloons, and a kiddie pool filled with the gelatinous snack. Wisnia sought a million dollars in damages for his injury, claiming the university was at fault for sanctioning the bash, providing the Jell-O and failing to “maintain a safe condition.”
Mysterious Tall Bench Removed By DOT; Mystery Solved
As the ones who first reported on the mysterious tall bench on the median of East Houston Street, we feel some responsibility in bringing closure to the story. (fYI amNY: Link.) Contrary to some of the comments in our original post claiming that the bench was just an amateurish photoshop gag, it turns out the surreal furniture was real, quite real. And now it is quite gone.
Silly Trend Watch: Amateur Jello Wrestling
It seems like young, affluent hipsters are always finding something new to do with their voluminous free time. Remember the Rated X parties from earlier in the year? The ones that clogged your Flickr streams with low-quality amateur porn every couple of weeks? Well, the phenomenon has mutated and it's been gelatin-ized. The Amateur Female Jello Wrestling people have been staging monthly events since 2003-- but it's only recently that they've captured the attention of the legions of NYC photobloggers. Sadly, the influx of cameras usually marks the shark-jumping moment of any nightlife meme, so you'll have to hurry to get in on the slippery fun.
Extra, Extra
A Brad Downey sculpture in Greenpoint, by Tod Seelie, who has pix of a couple of more at his site.
Photobloggers Invade Apple Store Tonight!
If you love photography, there's only one place you should be tonight: the Apple Store SoHo from 5:30-8pm. The NYC Photobloggers group is throwing their sixth event-- a fun filled spectacular kicking off with a demo of Aperture at 5:30pm, and followed by presentations by six of NYC's best photobloggers at 6:30pm: Corrie and Lex of officersrow.org, Joseph Holmes of Joe's NYC, Noah Kalian of Noah Kalina Interiors, Tod Seelie of Of Quiet, Jimmie Yoo of cornershots.com, and Reza Mazaheri of Photos by Reza Mazaheri. The Apple Store was nice enough to donate a copy of Aperture ($500 value!) and many of the photographers are raffling prints, so if you swing by, you might get a present! Cost: absolutely free. Bonus: Gothamist is sponsoring free beer after the show at a local bar as part of our 3rd Birthday week. See you there!

